Oliver Elison Timm

Oliver Elison Timm is an Associate Professor in the Department of Atmospheric & Environmental Sciences at the University at Albany, State University of New York. He holds a PhD in Meteorology from the University of Kiel, Germany, along with earlier degrees. His research focuses on paleoclimate reconstruction and future climate impacts, particularly in regional contexts like Hawaii and the subtropical Pacific. He explores climate variability modes, downscaling methods, and environmental health applications, such as West Nile virus transmission linked to climatic conditions.

Education:

• PhD in Meteorology, University of Kiel, Germany (2003)
• MS (Diplom), Meteorology, University of Kiel, Germany (2000)
• BS (Vordiplom), Meteorology, University of Kiel, Germany (1996)

Research Interests:

• Paleoclimatology: reconstructing past climate variability and its natural spectrum beyond instrumental records
• Regional climate change projections for Hawaii, focusing on rainfall trends and elevation-dependent warming
• Climate-Health Linkages: analyzing West Nile virus dynamics in the Northeast US through climate-environmental interactions
• Model Development: co-creator of SEDGES, a dynamic vegetation model for climate simulations

Recent Activities:

• Leading projects on Hawaiian rainfall downscaling using WRF models and statistical methods
• Collaborating with Wadsworth Center on climate-driven disease modeling (West Nile virus)
• Developing empirical-statistical downscaling frameworks for climate projections

Teaching:

• ATM306: Climate Variability and Change
• ATM/ENV315: Environmental Statistics and Computation

Labs/Teams:

• Climate Change and Emerging Infectious Disease (CCEID) team at DAES
• Contributor to the SEDGES model development initiative